Moms of young cancer patients urge Winnipeggers to donate blood

Two Winnipeg mothers whose families have been touched by childhood cancer will visit a local blood clinic on Friday to encourage people to donate blood and thank those who already do.

Jennifer Wityshyn and Amy Millette will be atthe Canadian Blood Services clinic on William Avenue on Friday as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The two friends want to encourage Winnipeggers to join the fight against childhood cancers by donating blood during the month of September.

Wityshyn's 23-month-oldson, Rylan, died from a rare form of brain cancerin 2013.

"He inspired so many people and became so many people's hero without even knowing it," Wityshyn told Janet Stewart, host of CBC's Radio Noon program, on Thursday.

"His mission in life was a lot bigger than we even know."

Wityshyn said it wasn't until Rylan was diagnosed that she realized the importance of ensuring there's enough blood for cancer patients.

"What people don't realize is that for these kids going through treatment, they get blood donations and platelets on a regular basis. So if we're not donating, they die," she said.

"We can't whip up a Kool-Aid mixture and say, 'Here, take this instead of some blood today.' That's it."

Wityshyn said she and Millette also want to raise public awareness of childhood cancers.

Millette's three-year-old daughter, Paisley, currently has the same type of braincancer that Rylan had. Paisleyis currently on a trial drug as part of her treatment, said Wityshyn.

"Childhood cancer is so underfunded and there's so little awareness for it that we have no new treatments coming out for these children," she said, adding that less than four per cent of funding go toward fighting childhood cancers.

Wityshyn and Millette will be at the William Avenue clinic between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday. More information can be found on Wityshyn's Facebook page, Ribbons for Rylan.

Listen to Wityshyn's full interview by clicking on the audio player above.